{"id":10990,"date":"2025-10-13T09:36:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=10990"},"modified":"2025-10-13T09:37:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:37:13","slug":"how-much-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=10990","title":{"rendered":"How much more?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Select here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 18:1-8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Sermon for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Gospel text for today there is this widow, and she\u2019s pounding on the door of the unjust judge. The first thing you realize about this parable is that it\u2019s funny. It\u2019s classic Jewish humor. She pounds and pounds on the door. The judge thinks: \u201cHow can I get rid of her? She keeps pestering me. I\u2019m just going to give in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We remember that a parable has one point, and we need to be careful not to make a parable into an allegory, that is, a story about ourselves and what we should do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s completely wrong to think that God is like the unjust judge, and the only way God is going to respond to us is if we pound on the door. It\u2019s also wrong to think that the Lord testing us, like Job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No. A parable has one point. The point of this parable is based on Jewish rhetoric, called a trope. For example, when someone begins a story: \u201cOnce upon a time,\u201d we know what\u2019s coming is a fairy tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the parable of the persistent widow there is a rhetorical device which is not explicitly stated, but implied, which is \u201cHow much more.\u201d If the unjust judge hears and gives, how much more will your heavenly Father hear and give.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is justice? We are familiar with this from elsewhere in the New Testament, especially in Matthew 6 and 7. The last half of Matthew 6 is about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and what it says is, if the Lord takes care of the birds of the air, how much more will he take care of you (Matthew 6:30)! He knows all of your needs and he takes care of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in Matthw 7 comes: \u201cKnock and it will be opened to you,\u201d and: \u201cIf you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!\u201d (Matthew 7:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019d think, in light of the fact that this is the way God works, that the churches would be full and the people would be active, and they\u2019d focus on the fact that the Lord is so good and gracious that all they can do is praise him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you notice, that\u2019s not the case. Why is that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason is that many people are practical atheists. It\u2019s not that they have studied modern philosophical atheists and nodded in agreement, but rather that they are cultural atheists, practical atheists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are three ways of describing this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first one has to do with the problem of evil. Here it says: Notice the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, but as you and I know, the birds of the air fall, the lilies of the field wither and die. The grass is thrown into the fire and burned. There\u2019s evil. There are tragedies, accidents, illnesses, earthquakes, droughts, wars, and times of inflation where everything is lost. There\u2019s just evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s big evil in the world and people say: \u201cGod, you\u2019re not doing very well. If you give gifts to those who ask, what\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see in the Psalms that the good will prosper and the evil will have trouble, but that also doesn\u2019t work out as it says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What people end up saying is: \u201cWe sure don\u2019t know what God is about.\u201d They have a saying among themselves that almost sounds as if it\u2019s from the Bible, but it\u2019s not: \u201cGod helps those who help themselves.\u201d In both senses of the term. What you have to do is help yourself because it\u2019s a dog-eat-dog world out there. The evil aren\u2019t punished. In fact, the evil prosper.  The good are crushed and go down the drain. This then is the first reason for practical atheism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second way has to do with the idea that everybody is saved anyway. People think there\u2019s a great by and by out there, somewhere, somehow, and in the meantime, what\u2019s important is here, but this thinking is a kind of sentimental love, sloppy agape. Whatever happens God pats everyone on the head and says: \u201cThat\u2019s all right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are certain problems with this. It makes God into a monster. All the meanness, cruelty, and terrible things that are done are met with a heavenly pat on the head, as if the Lord says that\u2019s interesting what you did, but it doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God becomes a monster, and everything becomes relative and meaningless. If everything is true, nothing is true. That\u2019s a principle of philosophy, not theology, but it helps us see the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third way this practical atheism is seen is by what is happening in our culture about death. Attitudes are changing. Those of us who are older still view death as a terrible thing, and maybe there\u2019s something to worry about. But what is happening is that younger people are saying there is death, and that\u2019s the end. There is no judgment. No Lord. Once you have that idea it changes what you do about it when it comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s like the ancient motto: \u201cEat and drink for tomorrow we die\u201d (Isaiah 22:13.) That\u2019s from about 740 BC. Seize the day. That\u2019s all you got. Make the best of it because death is not only the end now, but forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be sure, the prophet condemns this view heartily. Moreover, it doesn\u2019t work out that way because people do ask about the meaning of it all, and then create their idols and their idols end up being family, career, and certain causes. But what is not asked is really the big question: Where are you going to spend eternity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there is no eternity, there is no question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you ask: What is the Christian point of view? \u2013 that question is considered embarrassing and fundamentalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the Bible say? The answer from the Bible has two phases. It is stated remarkably in Psalm 73: \u201cHow come the evil prosper and the good come to a bad end?\u201d And the answer comes in verse 23: \u201cNevertheless, I am continually with thee.\u201d And in verse 25: \u201cWhom have I in heaven but thee?\u201d And verse 26: \u201cMy flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Habakkuk the writer puts it this way: \u201cThough the fig tree do not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olives fail and the fields yield no more food, the flock will be cut off from the fold and there be no herds in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation\u201d (Habakkuk 4:17-18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same is true of Psalm 121 (paraphrase): \u201cWhere is my help? My help is found in the one who created heaven and earth. He is the one who is in control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in Isiah 50:10 where it talks about what it means to have faith: \u201c . . . [The one who] who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the Old Testament answer, and it continues in Matthew 5 and 6: \u201cHow much more?\u201d If he takes care of the birds of the air and the grass of the field, how much more will he take care of you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the New Testament has a further answer. That\u2019s what is decisive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The further answer uses the same literary trope or device\u2014how much more. It is found in Romans 8:32: \u201cHe who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not give us all [good] things with him?\u201d That\u2019s really what its about. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all \u2013 How much more? \u2013 is what is implied here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much more us will he give all good things to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does it mean? It means the answer is very different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means he has conquered death on the cross. He has conquered the evil one so the evil one has no power over us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has conquered the power of sin which comes from the evil one so that everything is changed. It\u2019s done his way, not our way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, we continue to say: \u201cLord, you didn\u2019t do it right. Listen to me, Lord. I\u2019ll tell you how you should run the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he says to us: \u201cI\u2019ve taken care of it. I\u2019ve taken care of all of these things.\u201d because he gave his own Son for our sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then it concludes in Romans 8:37-39 in an astonishing rhetorical device. He says: \u201cIn all these things we are more than conquerors.\u201d How can you be more than a conqueror? But that\u2019s exactly what it says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul should have added \u201cAmen.\u201d He didn\u2019t, but we can. Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke 18:1-8<\/p>\n

A Sermon for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost<\/p>\n

In the Gospel text for today there is this widow, and she\u2019s pounding on the door of the unjust judge. The first thing you realize about this parable is that it\u2019s funny. It\u2019s classic Jewish humor. She pounds and pounds on the door. The judge thinks: \u201cHow can I get rid of her? She keeps pestering me. I\u2019m just going to give in.\u201d<\/p>\n

We remember that a parable has one point, and we need to be careful not to make a parable into an allegory, that is, a story about ourselves and what we should do.<\/p>\n

Select here<\/a> to read more or select here<\/a> for a pdf version.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10990"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10997,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10990\/revisions\/10997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}